Lay persons, deacons, priests and bishops from the Southeast gathered in Black Mountain, N.C., for the first regional conference of Affirming Anglican Catholicism in the United States, May 22-24. This conference, held at In The Oaks Episcopal Center, was an outgrowth of similar events held in London, York, Toronto and Chicago when Anglican catholics have come together to witness to what the Anglican Communion stands for rather than what it stands against.

The Rt. Rev. Robert G. Tharp, Bishop of East Tennessee, welcomed participants by charging them to replace the negative connotations of Anglo-Catholicism with an American catholicity that embraces what unites us in the mission of the church.

Principle speaker was the Rev. Donald Armentrout of the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. A Lutheran, he has made the history of the Episcopal Church his field of study. He presented characteristics of catholicity, using historical examples of Anglo-Catholicism in the Southeast.

Dr. Armentrout suggested that catholicity can be characterized by its incarnational theology, its understanding of humanity, belief, and the church, its emphasis on the sacraments while maintaining a balance in worship between word and sacrament, its view of the relationship between Christ and culture, its tendency not to be overly dogmatic, and its commitment to the unity of the church.

Dr. Armentrout concluded by quoting from the works of the Rev. William Porcher DuBose, chaplain and professor at Sewanee from 1871 to 1918, as an expression of a liberal catholicity based on common scripture and the seven ecumenical councils, and centered on Jesus Christ in his incarnation, death and Resurrection, the church, and the presence of Christ in the sacraments.

A spirited discussion ensued concerning how Anglo-Catholicism had become identified, rightly or wrongly, with attention to ceremony at the expense of outreach to the community. When queried as to how bishops can help affirm Anglican catholicism, participants called for the clear articulation and teaching of the faith, and for acting like bishops, with the understanding that the bishop is the symbol of the unity of the church.